seems funny that in every other metric other than colour bit depth the D800 beats the A7r..yes at DXO camera ratings the D800 is now 3rd behind the A7R...?..did sony pay for that spot

They both score at 95 since obviously the difference between the two is insignificant and most likely, within measurement errors. DXOMark asserts, A7r as only ONE OF THE BEST in image quality which perfectly makes sense. Nikon fanboys may not need panic over non-existent matters. QUoted from DXOMark's conclusion:

"Compared to the 36-Mpix Nikon D800 models, the results are very similar indeed, implying the new Sony A7R uses the same (Sony made) sensor. The differences in individual metrics are close enough to be within our tolerances for testing, however, it maybe also be down to the differences in the filters or the imaging chain in more general terms. In real world use, the variance in low-light scores is negligible. As for assessing image sharpness, we’ll be adding lens tests with the Sony in the near future."